Archive for American Express

During my first couple years of law practice, I would do different cases including contract disputes. I remember receiving a call from a restaurant owner who wanted to meet about an American Express issue. A patron had paid for a bill and left a tip for the waitress in an amount of $500. That night, the waitress closed out all of her receipts and collected her credit card tips that included the $500 in cash, from the restaurant.

In a couple of days, the restaurant received notice from American Express that they were being charged back for the $500. The “Big Tipper” had claimed that he did not mean to leave a $500 tip; that he had been “over served” too much drink that night, and that the waitress should have known that he did not intend to leave a monster tip on a $75 bill.

I was reminded of that story when I heard a very similar “tip story” from the Glen Allen IHOP, in Virginia. (NBC.12.com) In this story, an Henrico waitress claimed that she lost her job over a $200 tip. When she looked at the receipt that showed a $200 tip, she couldn’t believe her eyes. “This is amazing. This is crazy”, she told her friends.

A week later, she lost her job. The waitress said that the manager called her in for a closed-door meeting about the customer’s tip. The manager told her, “that’s his handwriting. That’s his signature. But he only meant to write down $2.00”. Then, the manager told her that she needed to pay the $200 back, and gave her a deadline.

On the receipt, you can see that the patron had not oddly totaled the bill. Almost makes you think that he was playing games.

After the employer confrontation, the waitress refused to return the money. Then, she was fired. As noted in the story, legally she didn’t have to return the money… but the restaurant could terminate her in Virginia; a right to work state.

As a footnote to this story; after the news of the termination, IHOP has invited her back to work without having to return the money. To date, she hasn’t decided if she wants to return.

As a second footnote; in my restaurant case, American Express and the restaurant decided to split the difference as a settlement. American Express didn’t want to lose the restaurant as a customer and the restaurant wanted to continue to accept American Express. The original diner/customer… no longer welcomed for service!

DID YOU KNOW that President Franklin D. Roosevelt had a fear of the number “13”? (known as triskaidekaphobia) He would even invite his secretary to a meal, if he heard there would otherwise only be 13 people eating at the table.

If he was scheduled to travel on the 13th of the month, he would change his departure for 11:50 p.m. on the 12th or at 12 a.m. on the 14th. In death, the superstition continued. He passed away in April, 1945 … on Thursday afternoon the 12th. (certainly not on Friday the 13th!)

I received a notification from American Express that advised me that they were having “internal problems” and needed me to log into my account, to make sure that my account was securely registered. If I didn’t do it, then there might be an issue with my ability to access my account.

First, “internal problems” sounds more like a need for Rolaids. Secondly, I imagined some Russian gangster with a smile on his face, waiting to see who would provide a security log-in.

That email bothered me. Still, it’s no comparison to the email described in a story from the “Murfreesboro Post” in Tennessee. That’s where a lawyer received an email from a man, claiming that he had been hired to kill the lawyer.

As the lawyer was reading through his inbox, he noticed a message from an unknown name. According to the story, “the email detailed how the sender was hired to assassinated (the lawyer) and that his ‘boys are getting more information to track him down.'”

The police were called and were able to track the sent email to an individual. Since the alleged assassin did not try to conceal his identify; police are confident that they will be able to track the man down.

I doubt that the email subject line was addressed as “assassin” but it might as well have been. See, that email sounds a lot worse than my “internal problem”.

Any information herein on this website is not formal legal advice, nor the formation of an attorney client relationship. This website is designed for general information only. The Joel Bieber Firm does offer free legal consultations to help you decide if you have a claim to pursue.